Winding apparatus



st 41, 1932. R. E. MCFARLAND WINDING APPARATUS Filed June 10, 1929 I ment with the bevel gear of the driving shaft,

Patented Oct. 4, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ROBERT ERNEST MCFARLAND, OF LA. GRANGE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 WESTERN ELECTRIC COMPANY, INCORPORATED, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK WINDING APPARATUS Application filed June 10,

This invention relates to winding apparatus, and more particularly to apparatus for coiling strands for shipment.

An object of the invention is the provision of a simple, safe, and efiicient apparatus for expeditiously winding strands.

In accordance with one embodiment the invention contemplates a device having two coiling heads one of which may remain stationary for tagging and removing a coil therefrom while the other is rotated and thereby being filled with wire. Accordingly the coiling heads are mounted on a horizontal support which is rotatably positioned upon a vertical pedestal having a driving shaft mounted therein with a bevel gear at one end thereof which is eccentrically posi-. tioned with respect to the axis of rotation of the horizontal support. Two bevel gears are attached individually to horizontal shafts supported by the horizontal support for actuating the coiling heads, so that, when the gear of one coiling head shaft is in engagethe corresponding gear of the other coiling head shaft is disengaged therefrom and not operated thereby. In this manner it is possible to actuate either of the coiling heads selectively by rotating the horizontal support to a predetermined position, means being provided for retaining the horizontal support in any selected position.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein Fig. 1 is a plan view of apparatus embodying features of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1, parts being broken away to clarify the drawing;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1, in the direction of the arrows, and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional 3 view taken on the line H of Fig. 1 in the direction of the arrows. showing a portion of the coiling head in a wire receiving position.

Referring to the drawing wherein like ref- 1929. Serial No. 369,736.

erence characters designate the same parts throughout the several views, the numeral 1 designates a reel supporting member positioned upon the floor and adapted to support a reel 2 containing a supply of wire which it is desired to coil for shipment. The reel is positioned upon the reel supporting member 1 by means of a shaft 3 which is passed through an aperture 4 in the center of the reel and which is detachably secured to a brake drum 7. Cooperating with the drum 7 is a brake band 8, one end of which is secured to the supporting member 1 at 9 and the other end of which is secured to the left end (Figs. 1 and 2) of a lever 10 pivoted on the supporting member 1 at 11. Secured to the right end (Figs. 1 and 2) of the lever 10 is a turnbuckle 12 for adj ustably connecting the lever 10 to a rod 13 which may be moved vertically by a manually controlled bell crank lever 14 pivoted at 17 to one of a plurality of legs 18 of a table 19.

The table 19 supports a guide member 20 through which a strand 21 drawn from the reel 2 may be passed to a measuring mechanism of a well known type designated generally by the numeral 22 and comprised of guide rollers 23 and 24 for guiding the strand past an idler roller 27 and a roller 28 connected to a counting device 25. Attached to one of the upper right hand corners (Fig. 1) of the table 19 is a bracket 29 in which is jour nalled a shaft 30 having at one end thereof a forked guide member 31 through which the strand may be directed to one of a pair of coiling heads designated generally by the numeral 32, and having at the other end thereof a manually actuated lever 33 for moving the guide member 31 whereby the strand passing from the reel 2 to the coiling head 32 may be evenly distributed on the latter.

The coiling heads 32 are mounted within a guard member 34 supported by standards 37 and provided with a slot 38 through which the strand drawn from the reel 2 may be passed to the coiling head and in which the forked guide member 31 is movable. A portion of the guard-member 34 is cut away at 39 to permit the removal of coilsfrom the coiling heads 32.

for alternately engaging a bevel Positioned substantially centrally with respect to the guard member 34 is a pedestal 40 which has rotatably mounted concentrically therewith and upon the upper surface thereof, a supporting member 41, a bearing 42 (Fig. being rigidly positioned on the pedestal about which the supporting member 41 may be rotated. The bearing 42 is secured to the pedestal 40 by threaded members 43 and has an' aperture 44 therethrough which is formed eccentrically with respect to the outer surface upon which the supporting member rotates.

The supporting member 41 has journalled therein a pair of horizontal shafts 47 on the inner ends of which bevel gears 48 are secured gear 49 mounted on a vertical shaft 50. The shafts 47 are so positioned in the supporting member 41 that the gears 48 are equidistant from the axis of rotation of the member 41 about the bearing 42, and the shaft 50 is journalled in the aperture 44 of the hearing so that the gear 49 secured to the shaft 50 will engage only one of the gears 48 at a time. The outer ends of the shafts 47 have secured thereto the coiling heads 32 which are comprised of a plurality of radially extending members 51 having wire receiving members 52 positioned at the outer ends thereof. The inner portion of each wire receiving member 52 is formed integrally with the radially extending member 51 and the outer portion consists of a lever 53 pivoted on the radially extending member at 54 so that it may be moved about its pivot at 54 to the open position shown at the upper portion of Fig. 1 to permit the removal of a coil of wire from the wire receiving members after the coil has been properly tied and tagged.

In order to permit movement of the lever 53 about its pivot and to hold it in the required position during the coiling of the strand upon the coiling head, the lever is provided with an extending portion 57 to which a link 58 is pivotally secured at 59. The other end of the link 58, as clearly shown in Fig. 4, is pivoted at 60 to a collar 61 slidably mounted upon the shaft 47. The collar 61 is normally held in a position such that the link 58 will hold the lever 53 in a position to maintain a coil upon the coiling head, by a lock member 62 positioned in arecess 63 in the shaft 47 and normally urged outwardly by a spring 64 also positioned in the recess 63. A plunger 65 provided with a camming portion 66 and normally urged to the right (Fig. 4) by a spring 69, passes through an aperture in the lock member 62 and upon-movement of the plunger 65 to the left the camming surface 66 will move the locking member 62 out of engagement with the collar 61 and permit the collar 61 to be moved to the left (Fig. 4) for rotating the levers 53 of the wire receiving member about their pivots to permit the removal of a coil of wire from the coiling head.

After a coil has thus been removed from the coiling head the supporting member 41 may be rotated upon the pedestal 40 to bring the gear 48 associated with the empty coiling head into en gagelnent with the gear 49 in which position the supporting member 41 may be locked by a locking member 70. The locking member 70 is normally urged upwardly (Fig. 3), by a spring 71 engaging a shoulder 72 formed thereon, into one of a pair of apertures 73 formed on the under side of the supporting member 41. The locking member 7 0 may be released by depressing a treadle 74 which is pivoted to the pedestal 40 at 75 and which has pivoted intermediate its ends the lower end of the locking member 7 O.

After the supporting member has been locked with either of the coiling heads in position to receive a coil of wire, power may be transmitted to the shaft 50 through a combined clutch and brake mechanism '78 of a well known type, the details of construction of which are not disclosed herein, since they do not of themselves form a part of this invention. This clutch and brake mechanism 7 8 may be controlled by the'manually controlled bell crank lever 14 which actuates the rod 13 to effect a braking action on the shaft 50 upon movement of the vertically disposed portion of the lever 14 away from the table 19. Movement of the lever 14 in an opposite direction actuates the clutch to transmit rotary motion to the shaft 50 from a shaft 79 journalled in the pedestal 40 and having a worm gear 80 secured thereto which meshes with a worm 81. The worm 81 is secured to a shaft 82 driven by an electric motor 83 of any well known type to which current may be supplied by conductors (not shown). In the operation of the apparatus described hereinbefore, a strand 21 having been drawn from the reel 2 and passed through the measuring mechanism 22, is threaded through the guide member 31 and secured to one of the coiling heads 32 whereupon the braking mechanisms controlled by the lever 14 are released and the clutch designated 78 is moved into a position to impart rotary motion to the shaft 50, whereupon the coiling head at the lower end (Fig. 1) of the apparatus is rotated to wind the strand of wire 21 thereabout. After a predetermined amount has been wound upon the coiling head the lever 14 may be moved manually to disengage the driving mechanism from the shaft 50 and to stop the rotation of the shaft 50, whereupon an operator who has been controlling the coiling of'the wire may cut the strand, release the locking member 70, and rotate the supporting member 41 about its bearing 42, thereby disengagingthe gear 48 which has been in engagement with the gear 49 and engaging the other of the gears 48 with the gear 49. After the supporting member 41 has been rotated one-half a revolutlon thecoiling head my. name this 5th day of having wire wound thereupon will be positioned at the upper side of Fig. 1 and a second operator stationed adjacent that position may tie, tag, and remove the coil from the coiling head while another coil is being wound upon the coiling head in the manner described hereinbefore.

It will be apparent that the mechanism of the type described hereinbefore may be operated substantially continuously since it is possible to remove the coil from one coiling head while another coil is being formed on the other coiling head.

Whle a particular embodiment of the invention has been described hereinbefore, it is not desired to limit the invention to a specific embodiment thereof, but only as it is limited by the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

In a wire coiling apparatus, a rotatable support, a pair of aligned shafts rotatably mounted therein, means for rotating the support, a stationary guard member having an opening, a rotatable coiling head mounted on each of said shafts and comprising a plurality of radially extending arms, wire receiving members on the ends of said arms, part of said wire receiving members being movable to permit removal of a coil of wire therefrom, and means for stopping the rotation of said support to cause the coil to be removed to be positioned at the opening of said guard member.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe June A. D., 1929. ROBERT ERNEST MOFARLAND. 

